Swan's death

"What! How could Kaeya do this? Where did that leave Eula? If he knew Schubert was stealing the defense plans, why not just hand the matter over to Eula?"

Jean's brows knitted sharply when she heard the news, her voice filled with disbelief.

The more she thought about it, the more unsettled she became, and a measure of suppressed indignation entered her voice. "How could he give him a fake and then make the Lawrence Clan take the blame? What on earth was he thinking!"

Jean had always trusted Kaeya. This had gone completely beyond anything she had expected.

Worse still, this move had thoroughly offended the god visiting Mondstadt.

All at once, Mondstadt now had to face three forces: the Fatui, the Abyss, and an unfamiliar god.

Even if the Lawrence Clan was at odds with the Knights of Favonius, could they really stand aside if something happened to Mondstadt?

Now they had been driven to stop having anything to do with Mondstadt.

Jean let out a long breath, her head feeling ready to burst, and barely steadied herself. "Is there any good news?"

Lisa shook her head gently, her expression darkening. "No good news for now. There's another piece of bad news, but I'm afraid you won't be able to take it all at once."

Jean's heart sank, but she forced herself to speak. "Tell me. I can still hold on."

"That god handed me Eula's and Amber's Knights of Favonius insignias yesterday. They've decided to leave the Knights. Amber and Eula's Reconnaissance Company have already gone to Liyue with the Lawrence Clan to make a living."

Those words were like the last straw. Jean's vision went black, and she collapsed straight to the floor.

"Acting Grand Master Jean! Please be okay! Klee won't ever go fish blasting again!" Beside her, Klee panicked in fright.

Lisa hurried over to examine her and found that she had merely fainted from overwork and a rush of anger to the heart.

She turned to Klee and soothed her gently. "Klee, Jean is fine. Go find Albedo and have him take you out fish blasting, all right?"

"No-you are not allowed to go fish blasting!"

Jean, who had been lying unconscious on the floor, abruptly woke at the words "fish blasting."

Klee shuddered in fright and hurried behind Albedo, peeking out with half her head.

Albedo smiled helplessly. "I'll take Klee to paint instead."

Klee nodded at once. "Painting is good! Klee loves painting best. Klee doesn't want to go fish blasting ever again!"

Lisa bent down to look at Jean, who was resting against the floor. "Jean, are you sure you're all right?"

Jean gritted her teeth and answered, "I'm fine."

But her legs were weak and could not support her at all. Lisa reached out to help her, slowly taking her back to her room to rest.

When Jean woke again, two more figures were already in her room at the Dawn Winery.

Venti and the Traveler, Lumine, were already waiting there.

Seeing her open her eyes, Paimon immediately raised her voice. "Look, look! Acting Grand Master Jean is awake!"

"Paimon, keep your voice down." Lumine held her back helplessly.

Jean propped herself up and forced a faint smile. "Don't worry, Traveler. I'm not that frail yet."

Her gaze shifted to Venti beside them, her voice full of self-reproach.

"Lord Barbatos, I've been incompetent."

"Mondstadt is in chaos now. We can only leave it to you to take charge."

In just a few short days, Mondstadt had been turned upside down.

Lawrence had died, Eula and Amber had left the Knights with the Reconnaissance Company, and Kaeya had been abducted by the Abyss in full view of everyone.

Now, of all the knights in the Knights of Favonius, she, Jean, was actually the only one with a Vision left.

Hollowed out within and without, with people's hearts scattered, she no longer had the power to turn the tide.

Venti nodded gently. "Don't worry. Leave the rest to me. Come back to Mondstadt with me."

Outside, the fully recovered Dvalin waited quietly.

Everyone climbed onto the Anemo dragon's back and rode the wind into the air, speeding toward Mondstadt.

As they approached the sky above the city.

"Dvalin, wait here."

If the Anemo dragon suddenly appeared above Mondstadt now, it would only send the entire city into panic.

As his words fell, a gentle breeze swept everyone up, carrying them smoothly to the ground and setting them upon the familiar Mondstadt Bridge.

Halfway across the bridge, Venti abruptly stopped.

He raised a hand and plucked the strings, and a melodious yet unbearably sorrowful tune slowly flowed from the Holy Lyre der Himmel.

The gentle wind abruptly split, forcibly parting the waters of the entire Cider Lake down the middle.

A slender figure was lifted into the air by the gentle wind, then slowly drifted down, landing quietly in the middle of the bridge.

It was Lawrence.

The Hydro Vision was still fastened to his chest, and he still held the Favonius Sword that Jean herself had awarded him not long ago.

No one had imagined that the knight who had greeted everyone with a smile and diligently stood guard just days ago would, in the blink of an eye, be separated from them by death.

The wind silently carried his body.

With heavy hearts, everyone slowly walked onward.

Even after two days, the Knights of Favonius were still filled with clamoring voices, devastation everywhere.

After the Abyss's slaughter, countless citizens remained in the city's streets and alleys, weeping as they identified bodies and desperately searched for their loved ones.

When they saw Jean returning, the citizens' eyes instantly reddened after holding back their feelings for so long.

"Acting Grand Master Jean! You're finally back!"

"Acting Grand Master Jean, while you were away these past few days, the Abyss killed so many of us..."

Cries of grief filled the surroundings, sorrow everywhere the eye could see.

Venti waved a hand, and the scattered bodies of the dead were gently lifted by the breeze and returned to their families one by one, granting every departed soul a final measure of dignity.

Looking at the devastated Mondstadt, Jean felt an unbearable ache in her heart. She dropped heavily to one knee and looked up at Venti.

"Lord Barbatos, please protect Mondstadt once more."

At that moment, everyone became completely certain of Venti's identity.

Even the ever-upright and meticulous Acting Grand Master Jean had bowed in reverence, so this bard had to be the true Anemo Archon.

The citizens throughout the city knelt, pleading in unison, "Lord Barbatos! Please protect this city of wind and freedom once more!"

Venti gazed calmly down at the people below.

"The wind has already told me everything that happened in Mondstadt. Now, I will begin passing judgment on Mondstadt's sinner."

Someone in the crowd instinctively spoke up. "The sinner... is it Kaeya Alberich?"

"No." Venti shook his head gently. "The sinner is-Swan."

The instant those words fell, fierce winds surged, and a figure was abruptly dragged into the very center of the crowd.

It was Swan.

In just a few short days, large swaths of his black hair had turned gray, and his face looked withered and haggard.

Diluc's gaze sharpened. He recognized it as the backlash from prolonged use of a Delusion.

No one in Mondstadt understood Delusions better than he did.

Venti's gaze settled on the man as he pronounced his crimes. "Swan, you colluded with the Fatui, sold Mondstadt's defense plans, launched a sneak attack, and cruelly murdered your colleague Lawrence."

Swan jerked his head up, his gaze savage, and retorted harshly, "Who are you! How dare you slander me without any evidence!"

"My judgment is not baseless."

Venti paused briefly, a trace of melancholy in his voice.

"As early as when you obtained your Delusion and inner demons took root, the wind told me everything. I once hoped you could still turn back from your misguided path. Sadly, step by step, you ultimately committed an irreparable wrong."

"Therefore, in the name of Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, I sentence you-to death."

"Jean, carry out the sentence."

A sudden chill rose in Jean's eyes. She gripped Aquila Favonia tightly, its point aimed straight at Swan.

Betraying the city and murdering a colleague in secret-there was no room for forgiveness for such despicable deeds.

Swan suddenly burst into wild laughter, the sound both crazed and desolate.

"Barbatos! So you really do exist!"

"You hid in Mondstadt for a thousand years, watching with your own eyes as your attendant ravaged Mondstadt and the knights' hearts grew cold, and now you think you're qualified to judge me?!"

His eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at Venti, all the jealousy and hatred in his heart erupting completely.

"Why! Why could even an ordinary guard like Lawrence receive a Vision bestowed by a god!"

"I can't accept it! Without a Vision, all I can do is guard the gate for the rest of my life!"

As his words fell, the Delusion at his waist suddenly burst with blinding lightning, and violent Electro raged wildly around him.

His graying hair continued turning white at a rate visible to the naked eye as he overtaxed himself, yet his power soared wildly, already reaching Razor's level.

But that little bit of strength was ultimately no match for Jean.

Jean needed only two sword strikes to bring Swan's mad life to a complete end.

What a sorrowful life it had been.

As he lay dying, countless memories flashed before Swan's eyes.

In a daze, he returned to that ordinary morning many years ago.

If, back then, he had simply thrown away that knight's sword and plunged into the lake without hesitation to save someone...

Would he have been the one to receive a Vision?

Would he never have grown jealous and resentful, never have attacked from behind, never have killed the colleague who had spent every day by his side with his own hands?

In his final moments, he thought of Lawrence again.

Lawrence, you must have noticed the movement behind you long before, hadn't you?

You were simply too kind. You never believed that a companion who had stood guard beside you for years would strike to kill you.

I'm sorry, Lawrence. Rustam wasn't a good idol at all, just someone who died young. If there's another life, choose someone else.